Launch Woes

I'm so sorry for the lack of posting! We are prepping at work for the final launch of the Space Shuttle program, and it is EATING MY LUNCH! I've barely had a second to think, and am currently having final launch dreams, and have picked up a maniacal eye twitch.

So, Katidom will be going dark probably until after the launch, which is targeted for July 8, 2011 at 11:26 a.m. In the mean time, GO ATLANTIS!

Cover Love - Jaci Burton's Take a Shot

OK, sure, I loved The Perfect Play cover, and yes, I also loved the Changing the Game cover.

But, seriously, LOOK AT THIS! *dies*

Back cover blurb:

If you want to score, you have to get in the game…

The last thing Jenna Riley needs is more sports in her life. While her brothers are off being athletic superstars, she’s stuck running the family’s sports bar, whether she likes it or not. Then in walks pro hockey stud Tyler Anderson. As much as Jenna would like to go to the boards with him, she’s vowed to never fall for a jock—even one as hot as Ty.

Ty, intrigued by the beautiful bar owner, becomes a regular. He senses that Jenna wants to do something more with her life. And as he gains her trust, the passion between them grows, as does Ty’s insistence that Jenna should start living for herself. With his encouragement, Jenna starts to believe it, too…

But first, Jenna has to figure out what she wants, what she needs, who she loves, and if she has the passion and pride to take a shot at having it all—including Ty…

Trinity by Lauren Dane - A Review(-ish)

Renee Parcell is happy. She's got a fantastic life with her cat shifter boyfriend, Galen de la Vega. Renee owns a juice and smoothie stand, and she loves her work. She can tell just by looking at people what they most need in their drink to keep them healthy. She knows when the phone is going to ring. And she and Galen have a preternatural connection, that is visceral in nature. So imagine her surprise and how disconcerted she is when she literally bumps into Jack Meyers, who is an Enforcer in the Cascadia Wolves pack. And imagine Jack's reaction when he instantly recognizes Renee as his mate. He's not put off at all when Renee tells him she's with someone. He knows that nature wouldn't be so cruel as to show him his mate and then make her unavailable to him. He decides he'll just have to double his effort to make Renee fall for him.

When Jack meets Galen, he feels that same sort of mate bond. He realizes that he and Galen and Renee form a tri-bond, which is unusual, but not unheard of in wolf packs. While Galen is definitely an alpha cat, and Jack is an alpha wolf, they are both completely focused on Renee's well being and happiness, and Galen gladly accepts Jack into their lives, having realized almost immediately they he and Jack will have a mate bond as well.

As Jack enters their lives, Galen realizes that things have been harder on Renee than he thought. They've been together for four years, and Galen somehow missed how hard she's tried to work to get his family to accept her. He knew that she had issues with a few members of his family, but she's so independent, he had no idea how bad it was. When Renee confides in Jack her nervousness at meeting another pack, having had only mixed success with Galen's jamboree, Jack immediately confronts Galen about leaving Renee high and dry with his family. Galen is appalled to realize that she's been treated so shabbily.

For his part, Jack has to find a way to make Renee understand his close relationship with Grace, the alpha female of the Cascadia pack. He is Grace's anchor, which means they have a very close relationship and he helps keep her emotions in check should anything happen to her mate. Jack doesn't deny that he wants what Grace and Cade have, a family, a loving relationship.Sure, he has strong feelings for Grace, but he's not in love with her per se, she's married to his best friend! But their relationship is a real, and it's definitely a factor to consider for his new mate, Renee. Renee is NOT happy about Grace, but she tries to understand and respect their relationship. That is, until Grace is really rude to her at a gathering, and Jack doesn't stand up for her. She's pissed that Grace was rude, but she's furious with Jack for not standing up for her. 

On top of all of these other details, Grace is a witch of strong powers that she never learned how to use. Sure, she's always known when people are sick or when the phone will ring, but she doesn't think she's got anything more than heightened senses. But when she begins to feel followed and is attacked by an unknown mage, she finds out that her father and awful stepmother have been lying to her for years, and that she has loving family who has been looking for her for years. It's a lot to take in for a women who earlier in the week was just living her life. Will Renee be able to accept her true heritage? Will she and her mates be able to find a happy medium between her independence and their bossy ways?

Whew! This book has a lot going on! It's definitely a set up book, so there is quite a bit of exposition. But the romance is nicely done. I liked the connection between the main characters, although I did feel like it suffered some with all the other background noise going on. I would have liked to have seen the mates together more, working through their myriad issues, rather than all the other ancillary action. And I do wish that the author had focused a bit more on the guys' relationship. I think this is mostly because Lauren Dane writes such steamy and satisfying sexual relationships, and I was really looking forward to seeing her write some m/m scenes. Unfortunately, we only really got one scene, all the rest happened "behind closed doors", which was a bit disappointing. My final niggle with the story is that it ends very abruptly. There's clearly a companion book that goes with it, and the story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. It left me both wanting more, and frustrated that I'd have to go find it.

This sounds like I didn't like the book, and really, overall, it gave me exactly what I expect from Lauren Dane, a well written relationship between interesting characters. I just wish that there had been more characters, less action.

Final grade: C+

Collision Course by K.A. Mitchell - A Review (-ish)

Joey Miller meets Aaron Chase on the scene of an accident. Joey is a "do-gooder" who stopped at the accident to assist the female driver, and is in the process of calming her little boy when Aaron, a paramedic, shows up. The moment Aaron sees Joey he's attracted, but minutes later, when he finds out Joey is a social worker, he's put off. Social workers made his life and the lives of his siblings hell when he was a kid, and he's really in no mood to get involved with another. For his part, Joey is intrigued by Aaron. When they meet up again later that night in the hospital, they end up having sex in the back of Aaron's ambulance. It's the beginning of a very complicated love story.

Joey is good at falling in love. He does it a lot. And despite multiple warnings by Aaron, he can see their life together. Aaron has no real interest in a serious relationship. And yet, he can't seem to stop himself from taking care of Joey. When Joey injures himself in a fall, Aaron moves him into his house to help Joey take care of himself. And despite his injury, Joey and Aaron can't seem to stop touching each other. Their attraction is very strong, and their chemistry is incendiary. But Aaron knows in his heart that Joey is going to want more, and he's just not willing to give it to him. But slowly, Joey continues worming is way into Aaron's life. He meets his family, he's there when Aaron gets home, he's becoming what Aaron thinks about all the time. And Aaron doesn't want it. But the closer they get, the more drawn in Aaron is, and it's his quandary that presents much of the tension of the book.

The book is full of amazingly descriptive and sensuous love scenes. Scenes that really propel the relationship between the characters. They have a definite connection, but Joey can be manipulative. He doesn't really see it that way, but when he's called on it, he realizes that he'll need to make some changes to stay with Aaron.  Joey is the light in the novel. He's sweet, flamboyantly gay, and really has an open heart that makes the reader fall for him immediately. Aaron, on the other hand, is difficult. He's closed off, and Mitchell is smart in that she gives us only drips and drabs of what is going on in his head. He's kind of a closed book, one who we learn as we see him take action. Either with his family, who he absolutely adores, or how he takes care of Joey. He woos us (and Joey) with how hard he works to make things good for those he loves. He really epitomizes the actions, not words character. He's all kinds of gruff and cranky, but at the same time, takes tender care of those he adores. It's a heady and conflicting combination that had me both wanting to smack him upside the head, and cuddle him at the same time. 

I had only a few niggles with the story, the biggest being that Joey's ex-boyfriend was heavily featured in the book. I'll have to research it, but I'm guessing he got his HEA before Joey did, and this was a "revisit beloved characters" thing. Since I hadn't read the previous book, I found it quite distracting, but not enough to detract from my enjoyment. 

This is a wonderfully written book. I really understand why so many people recommended it to me. Believe me, it will not be the last by KA Mitchell that I read.

Final grade: B+

Author Blog Crawl - A Letter to Nalini Singh

Dear Nalini -

A long time ago, when Squawk Radio was still in existence, Christina Dodd began raving about a book. It was called Slave to Sensation and was about some sort of psychic woman and a werecat who loved her. This was a book that I would have passed right by if it hadn't been for Christina's strong recommendation. But when I picked it up, I discovered a magnificently realized world full of a buttoned down society of powerful psychics, the Psy,  and a passionate group of Changelings, who were affectionate, hot headed and sensual as all get out.

The Psy/Changeling series is one that I recommend over and over to new readers of paranormal romance as one of the very best out there. And the most amazing part is there has been almost no let down in the story. It's a tremendous world, filled with fascinating characters, and a terrifying impending war between factions. The tension of the war brings unlikely allies and makes for fascinating machinations, particularly by the Psy. With each book comes new developments in the pantheon of this war, and the build up has been tortuous for we the readers. But what I love most about this series is that even as the tension builds, and you propel the story forward, you never lose sight of the fact that it's a ROMANCE. The main characters always receive a satisfying, sensual story that leaves the readers with that awesome "big sigh" that we read romance for. Never once have I not bought a couple's happily ever after, which is quite a feat in a long running series like this.

Then you began the Guild Hunter series. I've said before that if the Psy/Changeling series is a symphony with multiple parts, then the Guild Hunter series is rock opera. It's dark and violent, featuring characters with powers beyond imagination: Angel-kind and those that serve them. The main couple, Raphael, an Archangel of immense power and practically older than time, and Elena, a hunter-born Guild Hunter, meaning her senses are far heightened allowing her to scent vampires, are among my favorites. Raphael is as ruthless as they come, truly thinking of humankind as "ants" but Elena shows him that humanity has value and as she loves him, she humanizes him, which is so endearing to read. These stories definitely have an urban fantasy overtone, but to me, they are still romances, featuring a strong main couple whose relationship continues to grow and evolve as each book unfolds.

So what makes you one of my favorite authors? Well, it's the heroes. Don't get me wrong, I love that you write truly kickass heroines, but your heroes are to die for. They are all single minded in their adoration of their women, and are truly alpha in nature. They offer affection, support, and a ferocity of love that appeals to me as a reader. I know when I open a Nalini Singh book that by the end the hero will be jockeying for position in my favorite heroes of all time. In fact, two of your heroes: Lucas Hunter and Hawke Snow rank in my top 10 heroes of all time.

Don't get me wrong, I love other aspects too: your worldbuilding is unsurpassed in paranormal romance. Your mastery of it complete, with no continuity issues throughout your series, which I deeply appreciate. Plus your stories are tightly written, with each scene building upon itself. And the fact that both are now long running series means we get to see past characters who we've loved, or get bits and pieces of possible future couples. They are truly satisfying books, and ones that I recommend always.

So thank you, Nalini. Thank you for the hours and hours of enjoyment I've had in reading and re-reading your books, and thank you for writing stories that I am pleased to recommend and even more excited to get positive feedback on. Your books are among my most cherished keepers, and I have a feeling they always will be.

Much love,

Kati

Thanks to Kassa for putting together this year's Author Blog Crawl.

Stop by The Book Reading Gals tomorrow for their letter!

Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey - A Review(-ish)

Sean Kowalsky is just back from war. He's been a soldier most of his adult life and is ready to ease back into the regular world. He's taken the apartment over his cousin's bar, and is just going to take it easy for a while, maybe find a job working with his hands, and just, you know, exist. That is, until Emma Shaw knocks on his door. Emma is in a bit of a pickle. You see, she "invented" a fiance to take care of her when her beloved grandma, Cat moved to Florida. Emma didn't want Cat worrying (which she does quite a bit), so she borrowed Sean, her best friend's cousin, to be her boyfriend. But now, Cat is coming for a month-long visit. And Emma has to produce Sean.

Needless to say, Sean is not amused. Sure, Emma is cute, and he's definitely attracted, but he's not a liar, he doesn't want to live in her house with her, and he certainly doesn't want to pretend to be with this woman who he's just met. Emma gets it. She knows she's asking the ridiculous and she knows it's too much. But she has to ask because she doesn't want to disappoint her grandmother. And she wants her grandmother to know she's doing great and to try to convince her to sell her the house that she's always lived in.

On a whim, Sean agrees. He decides he needs the work that Emma is offering as a landscaper, and it's a good deed. Little does he know how hard being in close quarters with Emma will be, nor has he really considered how hard it's going to be to convince his big, boisterous family to cover for them. Emma jumps whenever he touches her, but once he finally does get his hands on her, their chemistry is undeniable. Now all he can think about is touching her. Maybe this wasn't the best idea either of them had. Will either be able to deny their attraction and keep their business arrangement long enough for Emma's grandma to leave town?

I read today that this is the new Save the Contemporary book chosen by Sarah & Jane, and with good reason. It's an adorable story, full of sexual tension, hijinks and a fabulous cast of secondary characters. Shannon Stacey has a terrific voice and is in excellent control of the large cast she's working with here. The story flows beautifully and the tension and humor with which the main couple deals with their challenge is hysterically funny and quite touching.

There's a sweet secondary romance for Emma's grandma Cat and we get to revisit the Kowalski clan, who have quickly become one of my favorite big families in romance. If you are looking for a light, funny, sexy read, Yours to Keep is definitely a fantastic choice.

Final grade: B+

Galley received from Net Galley.

Off to Cinci!

 Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up and heading to West Chester, OH, just outside of Cincinnati for the Lori Foster Reader & Author Get Together. I'm beyond excited because so many of my online buddies will be there, as well as some of my favorite authors, including....brace yourselves, Nalini Singh. LB Gregg told me not to hump her leg, so I guess I'll restrain myself. Barely.

Anyway, I love the low-key vibe of this conference, where there is much chatting about all sorts of inappropriate topics to be done. I'll miss my girl, Julie James, who I met last time I went, but I can hardly wait to see all my other friends and favorite authors, including the fabulous Monica Burns. I'm also planning to have a cocktail with Ms. Samantha Kane, and get her to sign my copy of Prisoner of Love, and to fawn all over my latest addiction, Anya Bast, whose royalties will probably go up this quarter due to the number of her books that I've bought.

What are you up to this weekend? Have you ever been to Lori Foster's event before? Have you been to a romance readers conference before? Which one?